Uncorked
by rainydaymonday
Summary: Sequel to "The Bottle." Prior to their marriage, Catherine comes under the investigation of a council she didn't know existed and finds everything she knows threatened.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright you guys....sequel to "The Bottle." I've gotten back into the spirit of this one as summer's approaching and I did the last one last summer. I hope y'all like it! :) And if you haven't ready it, this will make WAY more sense if you do. If not, quick recap:**

**Basically, Catherine finds herself turned into a genie with Warrick as her master. Despite initial resistance, the two profess their feelings for each other. Catherine accidentally turns Lindsey into a genie, the undersheriff is evil (of course) and controls Cath, but of course, she wins and traps him in a bottle of his own at the bottom of Lake Mead. We find out that Sara was born a genie, she and Grissom get together, and at the very end, Warrick proposes to Catherine......whew......there ya go :)**

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It had only been a few weeks since Warrick had proposed, but Catherine was already in full-swing wedding planning mode. Originally, she'd hoped for something small and quick....this was Vegas afterall, but Lindsey would hear nothing of the sort. Being her mother's maid of honor, she felt it her duty to ensure a beautiful wedding. Catherine had protested, Lindsey had argued, and they'd finally agreed she'd have a beautiful, but small wedding. Something they could both live with. And of course, none of these decisions were run by Warrick.

Catherine could have let the stress of all the planning get the best of her, especially with all the potential errands to run and samples to look at and cakes to taste. But then, she and Lindsey were genies now, and almost a year after becoming them, they had great handles on their powers and despite initial resistance from Catherine (something about still trying to act normal and not let their powers go to their heads), Lindsey pointed out that with the amount her mother worked, it'd just be EASIER to do most of it from home through 'magic.'

Catherine agreed, again, but only if they did the really fun stuff (finding on a dress for both of them, namely) the old-fasioned, human way.

They had just made it back from going out to look when there was a knock at the front door.

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Warrick was on his way home from playing pool with Nick. He couldn't wait to spend the evening with Catherine. Lindsey was going to go to a friends' house and the two of them were going to watch a movie with popcorn. This had quickly become their tradition not long after Catherine had become his genie. He still couldn't quite fathom sometimes that, not only was he going to marry Catherine Willows, but that she was a genie......his genie. It was just so weird that she was something that the two of them hadn't believe existed a year ago. He'd quickly entered a world he didn't quite know how to navigate........one of bottles, smoke, masters, granted wishes.......and finally being with the woman he'd loved for so long. Even though they'd both been more than a little freaked out when they'd realized she'd been sucked into a bottle they'd found at a crime scene, that she'd been turned into a genie because of it, and that he was now her master, neither of them would take it back in a million years. If was becaue of the vulnerable position they'd been thrust into and the honesty with which they had to deal with what was going on, their long-present feelings for each other finally surfaced and bloomed. Through all of Catherine's emotional and physical instability during her transformation, Warrick was by her side, constantly reassuring her of........well, everything. It was only a few weeks after he'd become her master that he knew he wanted to spend the rst of his life with her.

Warrick sped through a yellow light.....eager to see her.

He could have summoned her, or wished to be home. She'd have definitely heard him, but he was adamant that she not use her powers too much or too often. It had nothing to do with him thinking it wasn't normal or that he just wanted to keep tabs on her, but everything to do with her exposing herself. After what had happened with the undersheriff, he felt she couldn't be too careful about maintaining a 'human' identity..........and to him, that meant limited use of her power. Of course, he didn't know how that made her feel. She was a genie. She got no greater pleasure than doing things for him........so when he asked her not to......well, he might as well have asked her not to kiss or touch him. He sensed it from her, but let his protectiveness over her block it out.

Focusing on the road ahead, and not getting a speeding ticket, he continued towards her house.

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Catherine looked through the peephole but didn't recognize the man standing there. He was oddly dressed, his clothes mismatched horribly and he stood, looking around as if bored waiting for the door to open.

She opened it.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"May I come in?"

"Um, no. Not until I at least know who you are and why you're here." She laughed, surprised at his audaciousness.

"I'd rather not cause a scene in front of the neighbors."

She threw her hands up. "Ok, now you're definitely not coming in." She began to close the door in his face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, almost threateningly.

"And why not?"

"Are you in fact, Catherine Willows?" He asked.

"Yes......"

"The same Catherine Willows who belongs to a...." He glanced at a piece of paper in his hand. "..a Warrick Brown."

She laughed again. "Yeah, we're getting married if that's what you want to call it."

"No, you know what I mean......you belong to him. You're his genie."

She laughed again, this time not so convincingly. "Look, buddy, I don't know what you're talking about people belonging to people and genies......"

He interrupted her. "Drop the act Catherine. I'm William McCullough, a member of the Djin Council. I'm here for an investigation."

Catherine just stood there, not wanting to, but believing he was telling the truth. She just knew. So she opened the door widely to let him in, not sure what to expect next.

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REVIEW!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing, unfortunately.**

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The man from the council walzted into Catherine's house like he owned it, stuffing the piece of paper with her name and information on it into his pants' pocket.

"Can I, uh, get your something to drink, Mr. McCullough?" Catherine asked, eyeing him.

"Iced black-tea lemonade, please." He replied.

"You are aware that this is not a Starbucks, right?" She said smartley back.

"You _are_ aware you're a genie, right.....and that it shouldn't be too much trouble for someone you should be speaking a little more prudently to." He said matching her attitude.

She gave him a smirk that she often reserved for suspects she knew were guilty, gave a quick little nod, placing a small tea in his hands. He scoffed at the size and quickly righted the matter himself.

"Again, I wouldn't be so obstinate towards the man conducting your investigation..." He warned.

She rolled her eyes, sitting down on the couch. "Don't worry....I lost a good bit of it when I ceased to be human. I will continue to use what's left of it how I choose, however....and would appreciate it if you would get to the heart of why you're here. You keep saying investigation.........I investigate for a living, so I know a crime has to be committed in order to have said investigation.......so.......would you like to tell me what crime the council is implicating me with...?"

"Crimes. Plural." He replied.

"As in multiple?! What the...." He cut her off.

"Silence. You want to know what your being indicted for, so let me answer."

"Fine." She threw her hands up in frustration and leaned against the couch, pulling her legs up to a crossed-leg position and folding her arms.

"To be quite truthful, Miss Willows....although not a crime, per se, we'll begin with the fact that, up until a year ago, you were human."

"Yeah.....so?"

"So you weren't born a genie. You weren't born into our world.......and, many of our kind......basically feel that genies such as you don't belong."

"But that's clearly not a crime and I clearly had nothing to do with...."

"Let me finish. I said it's not a crime, didn't I? I'm also telling you that your starting off on bad footing with us. Right or wrong, whether it was your fault or not....."

Catherine opened her mouth to protest yet again, but he stopped her.

"Yes, you said it wasn't your fault already. Whether it was or not, though......we don't like you very much. You don't get our world, our laws, our rules. If you did, I doubt we'd be having this conversation here today."

"But.....this just HAPPENED to me! I didn't ask for it! I hated it for forever! I've only recently come to accept it.......it just happened.........no one helped me.....no one showed up a year ago to explain things to me....so how can you hold me accountable for things now...?! This is ridiculous!" She fumed.

"Perhaps......but it is the way things are." He paused. "Now, may I finish?"

She gestured towards him to continue. "As if I have a choice!" She scoffed.

"The first of your actual crimes begin with letting.....well, let's see......there's Greg, Grissom, Nick and Sara (although we both know Sara doesn't really count), so that's three humans who you revealed yourself to.....not to mention that scumbag McKeen."

"They figured it out! And I had no choice with McKeen and Nick.......he used that spell and I..........I was forced to obey him....that wasn't my fault!"

"Yes.....well......I can count on one hand the number of genies who have ever let themselves even get PUT in a position where someone might even suspect that they are djin." He cleared his throat and continued quickly before she could complain again.

"Then, of course......we have you turning your daughter into a genie. I'm sure that was "an accident" as well, Miss Willows, but nonetheless.....it is illegal to turn humans into genies. And so it came to no surprise that you did it....not once......but twice. First with your daughter and then with McKeen."

Catherine couldn't believe her ears. So far, every single thing he'd accused her of really hadn't been her fault at all. Sure, she'd meant to turn McKeen into a genie.....but what other choice did she have? Letting him rule the world, using her power to do whatever he wanted and forced her to do?

"I.......surely you all don't think I'm really a criminal here?" She said, bewildered.

"That.......remains to be seen." He paused, staring at her. "Now.....that brings us to the last issue........your engagement to, not only a human......but your master."

"But.....I thought it was just frowned upon....that it wasn't really a crime......" She protested.

"Well, lucky for you, the council is making an exception in your case and prosecuting. So, let's review shall we? You were born human, getting yourself turned into a genie, revealed yourself to multiple humans, turned two humans into genies, and you intend to marry your master. I think that about sums it up." He stopped for a second, bringing his hand up to his chin in thought. "Ah, yes....one more thing.........we.....don't feel you act enough........well, like you should. Your a genie.......so this thing you and your master have about not really using your powers and such........not the way it should be. You are there to serve him. You HAVE powers so that you can use them. Your first priority is not your job as a CSI......but as a genie."

For once....Catherine was speechless. She really didn't know what to say. Mostly becaue she was still in such shock that she was actually being prosecuted for these ridiculous accusations! Sure, they were all true.....but why were they all wrong??? Technically she could see why she shouldn't go around telling humans about what she was....but.......everything she'd done......wasn't really her fault.......that was all she could keep thinking about.......

"Tell me. Does being born djin rob you of your common sense or something?" She asked.

"Excuse me?"

"If any of you had any sense at all, you would be here making sure that I hadn't intended to do these things and give me a light slap on the wrist. Or better yet........you would have showed up when I got into this mess in the first place and told me the rules then! Or even better.....helped me OUT of some of this mess!!!! If you hate the fact I used to be human so much, why didn't you beam yourself to my house then and there and just turn me back??!! We wouldn't even HAVE a problem then!! And how DARE you try to tell me I can't marry the man I'm in love with!! What is your PROBLEM??!!" She yelled.

"Our problem......is stupid little genies who make stupid little mistakes and expose us to the human world. The last thing we need to worry about is damage control. That is why you are such a liability to us.........and believe you me.....we would have turned you back into a human if we could have.......it can't be done." He finished, his voice dripping with acidity.

"So what now?"

"For now........we give you a bit of leniency..........a bit. Were you born into our world, none would be given, so be grateful."

"Lucky me...." She murmered.

"For now.....you are on probation." He paused and nodded his head. Catherine instantly felt a tight pinching on her wrists and ankles and, upon looking, saw thick gold bands clasped around each.

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**Ta-Da!! An update!!! Sorry, but life has been pretty hectic with work and school.......ick.......enjoy and REVIEW please! :)**


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